<p>So SLC has been my first choice for about three years because of its writing-intensive environment and focus on an individualized education. I am a strong writer and count on having good recommendations. I've taken mostly challenging classes (AP and honors) throughout high school. However, some of my personal struggles have impeded my academic performance. I have severe depression and anxiety (documented and professionally diagnosed) and that caused my freshman year grades to be less than spectacular--3.0 UW, 3.8 W. My sophomore year grades were around a 2.3 UW and 2.8 W. Junior year grades were better, but not much--3.2 W. I was in and out of treatment for those three years, and because of all the school I missed and the lack of enthusiasm for anything caused by my depression, I got straight B's and B+'s my freshman year, straight C's sophomore year, and a mix of B's and C's and one A in Government H my junior year. I'm doing much better this year and I'm currently taking:
AP Environmental Science
AP Spanish Language
United States History H
Modern and Contemporary Literature H
Not taking math, but I have all my credits in the core subjects: Geometry, Algebra 1 & Algebra 2.
EC's/honors-literary magazine staff/editor all 4 years, Girl Scouts for 11 years, youth group member, GSA for 1 year sophomore year, National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards: Silver Key Award for short story received junior year, scored in top 1% of grade level writing assessment freshman year, Honorable Mention in school-wide creative writing contest.
Demographics: white female, middle class, large highly ranked competitive public high school
Essay: Written about my best friend who helped me through my depression
Recs: The one that I have is from my sophomore year English teacher who said that I'm one of the strongest writers she's ever taught and that my grade was because of my missing school and not turning in work (which I already knew, but she said she would explain it in the letter)
I know it's a long shot, but my grades this year are good so far and I plan on applying ED II to better my chances. I've emailed the admissions officer for Pennsylvania and explained my situation and she recommended that I explain my situation in the additional info section of the Common App (which I plan on doing) and interviewing so they can get to know me outside of the two-dimensional confines of my paper application. </p>
<p>I know this was long, but thank you for your input :)</p>